Civil Forum on the Presidency

==Alleged cheating==
Because the questions posed to the two candidates in their separate appearances would be the same or similar, it was agreed in advance that whichever candidate went second would be sequestered so as not to hear anything asked of his rival. At the beginning of the forum, Warren stated, "Now, Senator Obama is going to go first. We flipped a coin, and we have safely placed Senator McCain in a [[Cone of silence (radar)|cone of silence]]."<ref name="CNN">{{cite web| last = Brusk| first = Steve|author2=Dana Bash |author3=Mike Roselli | title = Warren: McCain did not violate 'cone of silence'| publisher = [[CNN]]| date = August 17, 2008| url = http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/17/warren-mccain-did-not-violate-cone-of-silence/| access-date =2008-08-18}}</ref> In fact, however, McCain did not even arrive at the church until nearly half an hour later.<ref name="CNN"/> [[Andrea Mitchell]], on ''[[Meet the Press]]'', alluded to the possibility that McCain may have been able to hear the questions put to Obama, partly because his answers were immediate and, according to Mitchell, he sounded well prepared. Another act that aroused suspicion was when McCain was asked to define marriage&mdash; he gave a straightforward answer, and then asked when he would be asked the importance of Supreme Court Justices, even though the question was not to be asked until later.<ref>{{cite web|title='Meet the Press' transcript for August 17, 2008|work=Transcript|publisher=[[NBC News]]|date=August 17, 2008|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26252093|access-date=2008-08-18}}</ref> The McCain campaign stated that McCain did not hear or see any of the broadcast.<ref name="CNN"/> A spokeswoman for McCain said, "The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous."<ref>{{Cite news| last = Seelye| first = Katharine Q.| title = Despite Assurances, McCain Wasn't in a 'Cone of Silence'| newspaper = [[The New York Times]]| pages = A12| date = August 18, 2008| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/us/politics/18mccain.html?ex=1219723200&en=94776108e2c6ce71&ei=5070&emc=eta1}}</ref> [[ABC News]] has reported that, in subsequent inquiries about the incident, the McCain campaign, while continuing to insist that McCain did not hear or see the broadcast himself, "has so far refused to say no one told the senator about the questions Obama was asked."<ref name="cos">{{cite web|last=Tapper|first=Jake| authorlink=Jake Tapper|title=Saddleback Spokesman on Cone-of-Silence-Gate|work=[[ABC News]]|date=August 18, 2008|url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/08/saddleback-spok.html|access-date=2008-08-17}}</ref>